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A secret request to alter her pay and a string of spending scandals appear to have battered the reputation of Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell, according to a new poll of the city's voters.

Despite Fennell’s recent insistence in council that “There is no scandal in Brampton” — a phrase she repeated three times — it appears nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of those polled disagreed. Some 72 per cent disapprove of the job Fennell is doing.

But the biggest problem facing the beleaguered mayor of Canada’s ninth largest city, according to the weekend poll by Forum Research, is her chances in the Oct. 27 election. In a three-way race with fellow mayoral candidates Linda Jeffrey, a long-time Brampton MPP, and Councillor John Sanderson, Fennell is lagging way behind. She would draw 18 per cent of the vote, compared with 39 per cent for Jeffrey and 26 per cent for Sanderson.

Recent revelations that Fennell and her staff charged $663,000 on their city-issued credit cards since 2007 for things such as LCBO purchases, luxury hotel stays, high-end restaurants, jewelry and first-class airfare (Fennell said some of the expenses were later reimbursed) has angered many voters.

Eighty per cent of respondents said they do not approve of city-issued credit cards being used for travel and entertainment expenses, and six in 10 blame Fennell alone for the recent spending scandals in Brampton.

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A forensic audit is underway by Deloitte Canada, investigating spending by Fennell and the rest of council. Sanderson’s call for an audit followed a series of media reports about spending by Fennell’s office starting last fall, based on documents obtained under freedom of information law.

Fennell charged $186,000 in discretionary spending over three years and an extra $185,000 in travel costs for herself and her staff over five years. The latest information disclosed showed $663,000 in credit card charges by Fennell and her staff since 2007.

“The spending controversy which bedevils Mayor Fennell isn’t going away,” said Forum president Lorne Bozinoff. “And her constituents are pinning it directly on her. This is not a good way to head into a six-month election campaign.”

Only 12 per cent of those surveyed said it’s acceptable to use city credit cards to cover travel and entertainment costs. But Fennell refused to apologize for any of the spending racked up on plastic when councillors publicly demanded explanations two weeks ago.

Fennell said the luxury hotels at which she stayed on several occasions were not chosen by her; that a flight to Ottawa cost $1,850 because it was booked on a flight pass that would otherwise have expired (she flew to other Canadian cities at the same price); and that her $2 airport luggage rack charges were for other travellers in her group.

Councillors dismissed most of her explanations and asked again about other entitlements. Fennell gets a $49,000-a-year limo service on top of a $1,400-a-month leased Lincoln Navigator SUV.

It was recently revealed that she secretly asked to not be paid for the last two months of 2013, which critics argued was an attempt to lose her politically costly 2012 status as Canada’s highest-paid mayor. It's unclear if she has since received the salary payments that were stopped by the city treasurer on Fennell's confidential instruction.

Councillors are now awaiting the results of the ongoing forensic audit, expected to be finished by July.

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